NEW! “So You Think You Can Dance?” Bring the whole family for our Simhat Torah celebration, starting with appetizers, Caesar salad, deli platters, fruit & more (alcohol will be offered). At 6:13pm, share in CAI’s traditional Hakafot as we celebrate with Israeli singing and dancing, and refreshments (there will be a children’s holiday-related activity in another room). Get a guided tour from Creation to Mt. Sinai as the Torah is completely unrolled to encircle all who attend! THERE IS NO CHARGE TO ATTEND DINNER; however, reservations are required by Oct. 2.
The celebration continues with a festive service geared toward families with children. At 9:30am, the Sifrey Torah are taken out of the Ark. The children parade behind, then go up on the Bimah and are blessed.
NEW! In the Cantor Falkow Lounge, we offer a special program for children to include stories, singing, seriously silly snacks and shenanigans with Rabbi Ruven Barkan. We’ll then rejoin the congregation, followed by lunch in the Rabbi Breger Hall (a potato bar with Russet & sweet potatoes & lots of toppings, an array of salads, & sweets). THERE IS NO CHARGE TO ATTEND LUNCH; however, reservations are required by Oct. 2
Please join Schmooze (singles and couples in their 30s and 40s) to celebrate the start to summer with a pool party and a BBQ on Sunday, May 22. The event will be hosted at a private home near Central Avenue and Thomas Road. Note that we will not be having children in attendance at this event due to no fencing around the pool. This event is in partnership with AVIV of Arizona (http://www.avivaz.com). While there is no cost to attend, participants are asked to bring something to grill or a side dish. Schmooze and AVIV will provide burger buns, some side dishes, soft drinks, and water. Parking information and a specific address will be e-mailed to everyone who RSVP’s through the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YV3ZRY5
You can find more details and also let us know if we should be on the lookout for you through the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/990469827734946) or Meetup event page (http://www.meetup.com/azschmooze/events/230774165).
Please join Schmooze for a Havdallah event on Saturday, June 11. The event will be hosted at a private Frank Lloyd Wright home in Phoenix near 12th Avenue & Bethany Home Road. Note that we will not be having children in attendance at this event due to no fencing around the pool in the back yard. This event is in partnership with AVIV of Arizona (http://www.avivaz.com/). There is no cost to attend. Schmooze and AVIV will provide drinks and refreshments though you are of course welcome to bring something if you wish.
Parking information and a specific address will be e-mailed to everyone who RSVP’s through the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NW2RNBJ
You can find more details and also let us know if we should be on the lookout for you through the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/267278320290856) or Meetup event page (http://www.meetup.com/azschmooze/events/231439271).
We look forward to introducing you to other singles and couples in their 30s & 40s as well as to our AVIV of Arizona friends for this fun-filled evening!
The evening includes a wine, cheese and dessert reception; Havdallah program “Areshet S’fateinu … May the Words of our Lips … Translating Prayer into Song”; the changing of the Torah covers and a moment to honor our Minyan; followed by the opening service to the High Holy Days, Selihot, at 10:00pm. No charge; however, reservations are requested by Sept. 19.
Even if your loved ones are not buried in CAI’s Cemetery, you are encouraged to participate in the service and pay your respects to your dearly departed. The 30-minute service includes a special booklet of prayers.
Please join Schmooze to celebrate the start to summer with a pool party and a BBQ on Saturday, June 3. The event will be hosted at a private home near Central Avenue and Thomas Road. Note that we will not be having children in attendance at this event due to no fencing around the pool. This event is in partnership with AVIV of Arizona (http://www.avivaz.com). While there is no cost to attend, participants are asked to bring something to grill or a side dish. Schmooze and AVIV will provide burger buns, some side dishes, soft drinks, and water.
Parking information and a specific address will be e-mailed to everyone who RSVP’s through the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/527X3TP.
We look forward to introducing you to other singles and couples in their 30s & 40s as well as to our AVIV of Arizona friends for this fun-filled afternoon/evening!
Jewish Family & Children’s Service is pleased to announce its April Memory Café will feature an interactive sing-along with the JFCS Senior Chorus, The Sunshine Singers, at Beth El Congregation, 1118 W. Glendale Avenue in Phoenix on Thursday, April 5, 2018 from 10 to 11:30 am.
The Sunshine Singers, who are part of the Creative Aging program of JFCS, have been rehearsing together for several months, led by the talented Daniel Kurek.
The Café is a meeting place for those with changes in their thinking or memory, mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder, along with their care partners. Offered on the first Thursday of the month, each Café has a new theme and includes meaningful, fun activities to engage the participants and stimulate their minds and bodies. Socialization is a key component to the cafés, as they are meant to be a place to relax, meet others and have fun in a nurturing and accepting environment.
The Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity of the East Valley Jewish Community Center will host a daylong program commemorating the victims of the Holocaust in observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Registration is required for all programs. To register, click here. All programs are free except for the Open Beit Midrash guided tour, which includes a kosher lunch. To make a payment, click here.
- Self-guided tours (Noon-3 p.m.): “Through the Eyes of Youth: Life and Death in the Bedzin Ghetto” is an exhibit created by the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University that tells the story of young people in the Jewish ghetto of Bedzin, Poland, before, during and after the Holocaust. Reservations are required.
- Guided tour and lunch (11 a.m.): Bjorn Krondorfer, director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, will lead a tour of the above exhibit as part of Open Beit Midrash. The cost is $14, which includes a kosher lunch following the tour. Reservations are required by April 29.To register, click here. To make a payment, click here.
- Screening of “Shalom Italia” (1 p.m.): This documentary by Tamar Tal Anati tells the story of three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened. Reservations are required.
- Teacher’s workshop (4-5:30 p.m.): In this free workshop, Bjorn Krondorfer, director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, will lead a tour of the exhibit and discuss how to approach stories from the Holocaust with students. The program is geared toward teachers who teach high school or college students. Reservations are required.
- Yom Hashoah ceremony (6 p.m.): Procession of survivors and their descendants and a candle-lighting ceremony; presentation by Holocaust survivor Marion Weinzweig, author of “Lonely Chameleon”; presentation by Bjorn Krondorfer, who will share his story about finding out as an adult that his father was a German soldier at a slave labor camp in Poland; and reading of names, Mourner’s Kaddish, El Maleh Rachamim led by Rabbi Michael Beyo. Reservations are required.
Partners of this East Valley JCC program include The Martin-Springer Institute of Northern Arizona University, Temple Emanuel of Tempe, Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley and the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation.
The East Valley JCC and the City of Chandler will host the annual Klezmer Fest from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, at the East Valley JCC, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler.
Lively and upbeat, klezmer is the traditional Jewish folk music of Eastern European Jewish communities. Over time, the style of music has grown to include instrumental music, Yiddish vocal music and modern fusion music that combines klezmer with world music such as Afro-pop, rock or hip hop.
This music festival will also include a Yiddish Experience that includes workshops and lectures focusing on topics such as genealogy and the Yiddish language. In addition, there will be children’s activities, such as inflatables, face-painting and a petting zoo, as well as kosher pizza and salads available for sale by Brad’s Mobile Pizza Oven.
Local bands include Jerusafunk, a nine-piece ensemble from Phoenix that blends traditional klezmer music with American Funk and other world music genres, such as jazz, salsa and samba; the Rural Street Klezmer Band of Temple Emanuel of Tempe that plays traditional Jewish soul music inspired by Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Yiddish theater and American jazz; Zaftic, whose rich and succulent sound is a mixture of Turkish, Arabic, Baroque, Irish and jazz; and Klezmerkaba, an 11-piece band from Tucson whose repertoire consists of klezmer pieces steeped in Eastern European tradition, as well as familiar Jewish, Yiddish and Israeli pieces from different eras and ethnicities. The festival will conclude with a massive jam session featuring all the musicians.
Tickets are $15 adults, $5 children up to age 12.
Visit evjcc.org/klezmerfest.